The Loudest Neighbor in the Universe
by DanceInLightening
Summary: Haru had thought that the apartment seemed too good to be true. Turns out she was right when she hears the loudest shriek she ever heard coming from downstairs. "So a person, that you know in our apartment complex screams like they are being burnt at the stake a lot?"


An: Just a fun one-shot I wrote last night!

_The First Time._

The first time that she ever heard what she would come to call _The Scream _she had been moving into her new apartment building. Haru had been in the middle of setting one of her many boxes down in her new bedroom when the air practically vibrated with the high pitched sound. Stunned the brown haired young woman dropped the box the remaining foot to the floor simply out of shock.

After that momentary wail passed and she realized what she had heard Haru's mind jumped to the conclusion that anyone who made that kind of noise had to be dying. She had to help them! Without sparing it even a second thought she raced out of her room and was about to run to the source of the noise when a figure in her doorway stopped her.

"What's the matter?" her new roommate Kyoko asked, a concerned look crossing her face.

Haru didn't think she had time to stand there and simply chat idly about, not when a person's life could be on the line! Slipping past the slim girl she continued out into the small hallway separating the apartments. "Didn't you hear that scream, someone is hurt! Haru has to help!" She called out, so worried that her old habit of referring to herself in the third person slipped back into her speech.

A look of understanding passed the red haired girls face, but the other never saw it as she was far too busy running towards the source of the noise. It was only when the other girl grabbed hold of her wrist at the top of the stairwell that the brunette even stopped to turn around for a moment.

Gasping for breath Kyoko managed to get out a few simple words. "Just Tsuna… He does that… A lot…. Don't worry."

Slowly the young woman came down from her adrenaline induced state and the words began to process in her mind. "So a person, that you know, in our apartment complex screams like they are being burnt at the stake a lot?" Haru questioned confusion beginning to cloud her mind. There were people who made that kind of sound frequently?

"Yeah. Tsuna is just pretty easy to scare, and when he gets startled well you heard the result. " Kyoko replied when all of her breath had returned to her. A small smile was gracing her face by the end of it, as if she was talking about a small child and their cute habit of mispronouncing words.

Haru instead was stunned. This man, this Tsuna guy, had to be absolutely insane. To make that kind of a high pitched scream whenever something shocked you, well that just wasn't normal. How the amber eyed girl could think about it, about him, with such a happy face was beyond her realm of comprehension. That man was nothing like a short small child, the brunette could all ready tell.

"And you didn't mention this to me at all before you asked me to move in?" She asked sending the other girl a disapproving look. When she had visited the place last month Haru hadn't heard any kind of noise like that scream. All she had noticed was that the room that would be hers was a nice size, the fact that it was only a ten minute walk both to her University or the subway, and that she would get to room with someone she already knew and trusted. The fact that she had to share a small balcony with the people next door was of little consequence to her, they had put up a small baby gate already to separate the space after all. When she thought about it the apartment had seemed far too amazing to be true, and now she guessed she knew why.

The other girl at least looked ashamed when she responded to her. "Well, the last two people I asked to move in ended up deciding not to once they heard him." Looking Haru directly in the eyes she continued. "But it's not that bad I swear. Just give it a few weeks and you won't even notice it anymore!"

Haru could have said no. She could have gone back into the apartment, picked up the nearest box, and walked out of the building never to return. But of course she didn't do that, she had already signed the lease after all. Not to mention the fact that Kyoko was counting on her. The brunette knew the poor girl had been picking up double shifts at work to cover the cost of the place all on her own. As her friend Haru could not just back out on her friend when things got rough.

It looked like she would have to get used to the sounds of someone being axe murdered only a floor below her.

"I'm not going to just abandon you! I said I would live here and I will. I was just a little bit shocked is all!" She said allowing a small gin to grace her face. The smile that Kyoko gave her was worth it as the red head flung herself at the slightly shorter girl, quickly wrapping her in a bone crushing hug.

After a minute Kyoko released her and began to drag her down the stairs. "Come on we have to get the rest of your boxes or else Ryohei will start trying to do it all on his own in the name of training."

And that was how Haru Miura sentenced herself to a lifetime of girlish shrieks.

_The Fifth Time._

For the first time in three days, a record the girl was sure, a sharp cry rang out.

"Why do they even let him live here. Doesn't he drive away all of the tenants?" Haru asked the girl sitting across from her as she tried to get her bearings together. Over the past week that she had lived in her new apartment a few things had been brought to her attention.

The first was that Tsuna, or as she now had dubbed him _The Evil One_, lived directly below her. So the only thing that separated Haru from the obnoxious and horribly shocking noises was her floor. Unfortunately the floor did not seem to be that thick, so sometimes it sounded like he was right next to her when he screamed at the top of his lungs. What she wouldn't have given to have an apartment on the ninth floor, a whole level's worth of difference had to make some sort of impact on how loud that boy's screams were.

The second was the fact that the _The Scream _could come at any hour of the day or the night. It was like the boy had no kind of internal clock, or any sympathy for his neighbors. Just last Tuesday she had been woken up at one in the morning to one of his worst howls yet. It had shaken her so much that she had been unable to get back to sleep for hours making her early morning shift at the bakery hell.

Lastly Haru found out that Kyoko really had gotten used to the noise. She never flinched no matter what she was doing when _The Evil One_ let one rip. Once she had even been cutting up meat for dinner and her knife never slowed for even a moment. Haru had to admit she was a little jealous of the girls' immunity, especially in times like these when she was trying to study.

The only thing that she didn't know, but really wanted to, was why the boy had yet to be kicked out. She thought that with all the screaming it would be only natural to kick him out and let the other tenants live in peace. Surely many people had already left the building unable to deal with the horribly unmanly shrieks she was now subject to just about every day.

Kyoko looked up from her books, tilting her head slightly to the side. Both of them had been preparing for that semesters finals, Kyoko for her criminal justice classes and Haru for her ones in fashion. Once again the girl got a wistful look in her eye when the subject of the demon who lived down stairs was brought up. How she could look like she was talking about a ducking or a baby instead of that monstrosity was still beyond Haru.

"Oh, Tsuna's family owns the building!" She replied as if it was the most obvious conclusion in the world. Her answer however only caused Haru to sink into despair. It looked like filing an official complaint would not have any effect on _The Evil One's _living arrangements.

Steeling herself the brunette turned back to her books. Screaming crazy man or not she had to study.

_The Sixteenth Time._

She had just been watching one of her dramas, minding her own business, when it happened. This time the noise did not even seem like it had even come from a human being. It had been so high pitched and filled with so much fear that Haru almost fell of the couch, literally.

That was it. She couldn't take any more! The past three weeks of her life had descended very rapidly into hell. The brown eyed girl had been woken up at all hours of the night to what sounded like people dying. She had also dropped so many things onto her feet that she was almost afraid some of the bruises would be permanent. Her performance at school and at work had also gone down because she was simply becoming more and more frazzled by the day. It was like she spent every moment waiting for a yell of terror, and when they actually happened she became terrified.

But not any longer! Haru adamantly refused to live that way for another minute. Kyoko wasn't even home to stop her from going and telling _The Evil One _exactly what was on her mind. When she was done the boy would know better than to make noises like that again!

Getting up she stalked over to the doorway and slipped on her shoes. Each action that she did only seemed to stir her anger more. This was supposed to be her day to relax, to sit back and not do anything except enjoy the fact that the semester was finally over and she did not have to go in to work. This was Haru time, and the jerk downstairs had ruined it for her.

Exiting her apartment she stomped towards the stairs, her rage gaining more and more fuel the longer she let herself stew in it. Before even two minutes had passed since she left her comfy spot on the couch, she was outside of _The Evil One's _apartment. From the outside it looked just like everyone else's, but she knew that inside lurked someone who was cruel and rude and obviously more than a little off of his rocker.

Haru raised her hand and pounded on the door loudly three times. She only jumped a little into the air when another cry pierced her ears. This one was much less high pitched than the last, though her proximity to the evil doer increased the volume so much it was almost like there was no difference. Oh he was going to get it.

After a few seconds, and some obvious sounds of shuffling, the door was flung open. Haru had braced herself for many things, coming up with all kinds of scenarios of what the boy who lived below would look like. Eventually she had settled on the idea that he was probably really short, pale, had enormous glasses, smelled horribly, and was skinnier than could ever be healthy. So basically a short skinny troll with glasses. Her imagination had most likely never been more wrong in her entire life.

The boy, no she would have to correct that to man, who stood before her was not short. In fact he stood a good few centimeters above her. As for his skin it was not the deathly shade she had expected but it did not look like he spent all of his time outside either. Tsuna, or the man she assumed was Tsuna, had a face that was devoid of any glasses allowing her to see his eyes more clearly than she wanted to if she wanted to stay angry at him, which she did. Overall the person before her was not unattractive, he may not have made model of the year but he had the ability to make at least some girls swoon she was sure. The brown haired girl understood Kyoko's sappy eyes just a touch more.

"Excuse me, who are you?" The brown haired man asked before Haru could speak. This was probably because she was too busy reconciling her idea of him with the actual image of him, but she would blame him regardless. She had wanted the first word and he had taken that from her. Oh well, she would have the last.

"My name is Muira Haru and I live upstairs." She replied looking him straight in the eyes, determined not to give into his completely confused gaze. As if he couldn't understand why there was an upset girl in front of his door after the noise he had just released. "I am only going to say this once, Haru is not happy with the loud yells you make! It makes it very hard to study, or sleep, or do anything at all! Please stop making such sounds!"

Her delivery obviously could have gone much better than it had, but she was absolutely livid with the situation at hand. She just wanted to live in a normal apartment, surrounded by normal neighbors. And she would be as soon as the person in front of her stopped make those infernal noises that almost sounded like a pterodactyl.

Tsuna's eyes went wide and he looked really flustered, at least from Haru's perspective. The hand that was not holding the door open quickly went up his palm facing her. His mouth opened and closed once. Then again. The third time seemed to be the charm because after that he was finally able to get the words out.

"Ah so you're Kyoko's roommate? Sorry about the noise! It's just that the Chihuahua that lives next door keeps hopping the small gate between our balconies. I um, kind of don't like them, so whenever I see him pawing at my glass I get a little scared." He said, the apology sounding genuine enough. But really a grown adult who was that scared of such a tiny dog? Haru could probably throw one of those several yards if she wanted to, not that she ever did of would.

Looking more skeptical then she remembered being for a long time she stared him down. "Are you being serious?" She asked looking him dead in the eye.

"Of course!" He replied appearing a bit skittish under her gaze.

Just as she was about to protest she heard it, the smallest of barks coming from behind Tsuna. All of the doubts she had left were immediately erased as she watched his reaction. All of the blood seemed to drain out of his face leaving him looking like a very pale sheet. His pupils dilated and he sucked in a big breath. For a second she thought he was going to let out another scream but he didn't.

Then there was the sound of a woman's voice, a happy bark, and what Haru concluded were glass doors closing. The breath in the boy's lungs as escaped at once and he nearly hunched in double.

"Are you okay?" Haru wondered aloud. Without even knowing it the brown haired young woman had grown a tad concerned for the person before her. She had never seen anyone react that way to anything, not even to some of the worst horror movies she knew of.

"Fine.." He managed to gasp out. "As long as I don't see it, I can normally hold it in." He looked up after that, greeting with a smile that seemed to say 'I'm pathetic and cute at the same time'.

Now Haru truly, one hundred percent, understood why her roommate talked about him with such fondness in her eyes. Maybe, just maybe, he was cute.

_The Fifty-second Time._

Haru did not even flinch as the cry split the air. As much as the girl hated to admit it she had become used to the sound. Well maybe not used to it, but she had definitely stopped almost jumping out of her skin every time that it happened.

It turned out that there was almost a routine to it. The brown haired girl could expect Tsuna to yell more on the weekends, when his neighbor left the balcony door open, than on any given weekday. The nights that the dog escaped most often seemed to be Tuesdays and Wednesdays, but Haru had gotten better at falling back to sleep.

Overall the once obnoxious sound had just become a part of her daily routine, and with it so had the person who made them. After telling Kyoko that she had met their noise challenged neighbor Kyoko had taken to inviting him and his friends over, now that she knew Haru would not go off on him for the sounds Tsuna made. The brown eyed girl was surprised to find that Tsuna was actually friends with Kyoko's brother Ryohei. But her surprise was short lived when she found out what other kinds of people he associated himself with. So now Haru had a new routine, filled with many new people, and she was honestly happy for it. Sure her life was a lot different now, but considering all of the fun she was having she didn't mind.

She also discovered that Tsuna truly wasn't a bad person, and the more time Haru spent with him the more that she liked him. At first it had seemed like she had just enjoyed his friendship but that idea was quickly shot out of the window when Kyoko pointed out how much she blushed when she was in the boy's presence. So with a minimal amount of teasing Haru came to admit her feelings about her noisy, cute, funny, caring, neighbor. All that had been left was for her to tell him.

When a second yell followed the first Haru knew that she had better get down there and find out what was causing the old lady next to Tsuna to not retrieve her dog. Sighing she set down the magazine she had been reading and hurried outside. The brown eyed young woman guessed she would have to read about first date tips later. Haru had not asked the brunette downstairs out for it to turn into a disaster after all.


End file.
